Flip Side
by Editor SC
Summary: Though Dr. Ivo Robotnik seems to have left the world domination business, he doesn't necessarily have to stop torturing Sonic and friends in strange, new ways...
1. After the Storm

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I don't own Sonic or any of the other copyrighted characters in this fanfiction. SEGA and SONIC TEAM do.

EDIT: Please do READ BEYOND THIS CHAPTER. The following chapters have better and more content than this one- you wouldn't want to miss out on that, would you?

* * *

I'm dead. Dead inside. Entirely apathetic. I could be sentenced to death right now, and not beg for mercy. You know, I think I'd deserve it. I could've saved him. I just know it. I could've pulled harder. I should've grabbed his arm instead. I could've...

Could've, would've, should've. That's all that's flashing through my head. The problem with the world being safe again is that I have time to think. Way too much time. I'm not the thinking type; I just rush through life as fast as possible. Everything's a deadline.

Funny, I don't think he ever slowed down, either. I doubt he had the time. But his rushing made perfect sense. What kind of villain wouldn't follow through with a plan to destroy the world at thus-and-such a time? They'd be called a fool. But with heroes, it's different. If they're not saving the world, they can just take everything in its stride.

Not me, though. It seems like I only now realized that I'm skipping over the details. I just blaze on through anything that comes my way. A friendly walk always becomes a race. It's... it's as though I'm running from something.

Great, now I'm getting all philosophical. It just figures. When I'm not running, I end up becoming a prisoner of my thoughts. That gives me an idea. Focus on the stuff around you, and ignore the stuff inside.

Well, there's not much of interest inside the shuttle. There are only two areas, one for the pilot and copilot, and one for passengers. There's the cargo hold, too, but since you can't reach it from the inside, it doesn't really interest me. Anyway, I think this rocket-- it's not really big enough to be called a shuttle-- must have been designed for getting to and from the colony, since it has no crew quarters or beds or anything like that.

Tails and Eggman (as we call him) are the ones controlling the ship. I'm just glad that Knuckles hasn't been allowed to get at those controls again. That was bad enough the first time. I often wonder if he's more than a bit crazy. It's pretty quiet in here, though those two scientists might be talking about something or other; I can't hear.

I'm really proud of Tails. This is the second time he's beaten Eggman without anyone's help. He's also become quite the junior scientist as well. I think he might even be better than Sir Tub of Lard in some ways. The funny thing is, I don't know a thing about electronics, aside from my own computer. I wonder how he got started being a mechanic, anyway? Probably had too much time on his hands, like I do on mine now.

I'm still a little edgy around Rouge. After all, we only recently found out that she was working for the government. About the only things I know about her are that and the fact that she's obsessed with jewels. Knux seems to think she's okay, though. Must've done something nice for him to change his mind. It could just be her charms, though. As polite as he's trying to be to her, I'm observant enough to see Red sometimes accidentally looking a bit too low to be talking straight to her face. I admire how hard he's trying, though. I actually think Rouge hasn't seen him doing that yet-- she looks like she'd slap him if he got caught.

Tails just said we're about to land. I can't wait to be back on good ol' terra firma. This place has been cramping my style. Amy hasn't talked at all since we hopped the space station. Maybe she's thinking about Shadow, too? Her face looks a little preoccupied, and that (her being the ditz she is) is an incredibly rare sight. But I guess I should count my blessings.

As we hit the ground, voices outside start yelling and cheering for the six of us. I think we "heroes" will be down to five once Eggman steps out. I kinda feel sorry for him, saving the world just to end up in jail. The others will probably protect him, though. Heck, if he gets lucky, Robotnik might only have to spend one night in a cell. He seems like he's changed a lot; we were all affected in some way by this whole fiasco. Once I step out of the vehicle, I'm surrounded by a crowd and greeted with whooping and hollering. I just need to go and relax somewhere. So I run. The sea of people parts for me as I dash from City Hall, where we landed, to the train station. I manage to duck in a car just as it rolls toward the Mystic Ruins.

I know that Tails knows where I've dashed off to. If I know him, he'll bring the whole group over-- well, minus the Doctor-- for a party celebrating our victory. That kid sure knows how to throw a fling, even with his workshop being the size it is. On a normal day, he sleeps on a fold-down cot in his garage, while I sleep upstairs in the "house" part of the place. It's a good thing that he's made a basement underneath that shack, or it'd be a pretty sad excuse for a party. When guests stay, we let them sleep down in there if they want to.

Right now, I kinda wish I could join them, 'cause a strong drink would be pretty good right about now. I've made an effort to keep liquor out of the house, since I don't like the thought of what could happen if Tails ever broke into any. However, I always keep just enough around so that partygoers have enough to satisfy them. Suffice to say, they'll have a good time of it.

My little haven, as Tails once called it, is up in the surrounding mountains of the Ruins. When Angel Island is floating, I sit on a little platform of rock close to it, just staring up at it. When it's not, I walk across the bridge to the island itself and lie down where the Master Emerald is supposed to sit. Since we haven't returned the controller and its seven servers, the island is down today. As I take up my favored position, I keep an elbow propped under my head to avoid sleep. I close my eyes that are tired enough now to give me a headache from the light, putting my free hand in front of them to block out the last glow from the sun.

My mind is suddenly reeling with thought, recounting the two or so weeks of our last battle in under a minute. Just as suddenly, my mind slows dramatically. I've reached the point in the "reel" of my memories that is the last two battles that we fought to stop the ARK. I see in full detail Shadow's fight with the Biolizard, the prototype that caused the colony to be shut down and deactivated. Then, my mind rushes through until the "scene" where the lizard merges with the station in a messed-up form of Chaos Control. I feel again what it was like to have the two of us go Super at the same time, harnessing the full power of the Chaos Emeralds. It was kinda like I was the Yin half, and Shadow was the Yang. We team up just as this memory really happened, and destroy the Finalhazard. Yet again, we Chaos Control the ARK out of its crash course. And the end of the reel shows me grabbing Shadow's wrist as he floated toward the Earth, leaving us with only the memory of him and a bracelet or something to know he ever existed.

I come out of my daze now. I shake my head and sift shortly through my acquired memories to try to understand the ultimate lifeform. When I say 'acquired', I don't mean my experiences. One of the things that bugs me the most out of everything that incident was made of is that something weird happened when we drained those Emeralds of their power. For those few minutes, our thoughts were one. We moved separately, but in the way that a body can move two of its parts separately. The moment that we transformed, our memories combined, as well. I've known since then what hell he had to go through once he was finally awakened to the world. I also know now that he learned through Rouge that his memories might not have ever happened. It was horrible to find that out. It cut him to the core, but that revelation somehow got him to push himself to the limit, simply to prove that he was still the ultimate life. I never should've called him a fake...

My thinking spell is now thankfully interrupted by the sound of four familiar patterns of footsteps. Looking skyward, I suddenly realize that it's late in the evening. Knux sounds like he's sober, and is saying something to Rouge about how beautiful his little island is. Dreads has always been able to handle alcohol very well. However, the tone of his voice makes me think of how little of it we may have now. Rouge makes some nonsensical remark followed by a giggling fit, and Tails responds, oddly enough, in a similar way. At that point, I guessed that he must've found where I hid his sodas again. Soon, they're close enough for Amy to recognize my form. She runs to me as quickly as she can... which is still kinda slow.

"Sonic!" she says. My brain detects a note in her voice that seems to say, "Thank Chaos, you're here. I've got bad news." 'Thank Chaos'... I guess I must've picked up the phrase from Knuckles after the Chaos incident. Though it is true that the Chaos Emeralds give us power. Anyway, I ask her what's going on. I figure that if my current guess is wrong, I'll find out whatever's been going on anyway.

"Well... Sonic... You see, we were all... B-but Rouge... And then..." She sounded like she was worried that she was going to get in trouble for something she had little part in. She never needed to finish her explanation, however, because the others came within view at that moment. Rouge was engaged in babbling various nonsense to none other than a positively giddy Tails.

I panicked. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. No way. What the hell did you think you were doing!?" I got right in between the bat and my little buddy. Knuckles was standing next to her.

"'Ey, whaddya think yer doin', inter... interru..." I cut Rouge off before she could finish sounding out the word.

"What happened!? Why is Tails drunk!?" I yelled my last sentence at them. Knuckles looked like he was trying to put two and two together, and just barely managed to determine they were four after a few attempts. His weakness with alcohol was slowed logic, usually his strong point.

"Oh... shit... Man, I'm sorry. It's just that we sorta let Tails have a glass of wine... You know, this bein' such a special occasion and all... And he liked it, and I guess that I kinda left the room and lost track of time... When I came back, both he and Rouge had drunk more than their fair share of wine..." I punched him on the side of his jaw.

"Damnit, you jackass! I don't care if you were out of the room! You still should've made sure that he didn't end up like that!"

"Really! Sonic, I'm sor--"

"Just shut up!" I closed my eyes and turned to Tails. "Miles Prower..."

Tails' smile quickly disappeared as he heard his proper name. "S...onic... What did I..." His ears suddenly drooped, in an action I initially read as shame. "Whoa... I'm dizz..." I saw him fall, and I quickly ducked under him to keep him from getting hurt. I lifted his body off the ground and ran as fast-- or faster than-- my feet could carry me to his workshop. I sacrificed my bed for his sake.

"Tailsu..."

* * *

There you have it, the first chapter. As of now, the story's title won't make any sense to you, but that should be solved in the next chapter. I was going to start differently, but the writing part of my mind has a... mind... of its own, it seems. The rest of the story should also be a bit more, uh, upbeat.

The author does not support the drinking of alcohol, especially in the case of minors.


	2. Enter the Eggman

When I woke up out of my dreamless sleep, the first thing I thought about was my head. It hurt like crazy. Waking up to a headache usually spells doom for the rest of the day. The next thing that came to mind was, "Wait a minute, what happened last night?" I was trying to think of anything I could've done to set it off. It had to be something I had done the previous night. Thinking back, I couldn't remember anything that happened after... I had a little celebratory glass of wine.  
So, okay, what happened before that? Well, Rouge and Knuckles had a few drinks of the wine. Amy and I were just sitting over on the side. I didn't really remember much of what we were talking about. We talked about how badly Shadow's death had crushed Sonic, I remembered.  
"He's really taking this hard, Tails. He didn't say a thing the whole ride down."  
"Well, Amy, I know Sonic better than you. He hates losing anyone in the process of saving the world. I've told him before, 'the need of the many outweighs the needs of the few.' But he's still hurt by stuff like that."  
"Oh, I know, Tails. That's why I love him! ...But why would he be depressed about Shadow? After all, he was our enemy until the Biolizard showed up!"  
"Do you really think he was all evil, Amy?"  
"..." She looked down. "I... I don't think so. I talked to him before Sonic and Knuckles were close to the Biolizard's area. I said that he needed to help us. At first, he ignored me, but something I said must have reminded him of someone. Maria..." She trailed off. Did she look... sad?  
"Gerald Robotnik's granddaughter? The one he wanted revenge on humans for killing her?"  
"Yeah, I guess she must've said something to him before she died. Made him promise something, I guess. Then he went and fought. ...But I still don't get why Sonic's so broken up about him..."

I don't either, I thought. Maybe they were connected, in a way, by being rivals? Or maybe... We don't really know what happens to people who go Super at the same time. That might be it. It's probably a combination of the two, I thought. I should go ask Sonic.  
Finally opening my eyes, I was startled by what I saw. "I don't have a fan in my workshop," I whispered. "I must be in Sonic's room?" A loud, grinding squeak startled me. Looking up at the fan, I saw that it was tilted slightly, with a few loose screws to boot. I suppose he didn't want to ask me to fix that.  
I hopped out of bed, walked out the door, and floated down to my workshop to get some aspirin. After downing the medicine, I picked up a breakfast bar (self-made, of course) and put my toolbox in the little elevator I designed for carrying it up. Once I got back to Sonic's room, I set up a stepladder and began to fix the fan. My first job was unscrewing the fan to balance it, which would've gone perfectly if the door hadn't opened.  
Amy walked in without noticing the job just as I was about to finish with the last screw. Her knee hit my platform, spinning it slightly as I fell off, ironically loosening the fan in the process. Thanks to my agility, I managed to save myself from the attacking appliance by mere centimeters.  
"Tails! Are you alright!? I wasn't expecting you to be up!" Amy said, jumping quickly to my side.  
"I'm fine..." No thanks to you, I thought. "Don't worry about it. I was thinking of getting a new fan sometime soon, anyway," I lied.  
"You sure you're alright? How are you feeling?"  
"I said I'm okay. Where's everybody else?"  
"Oh, well, Knuckles went off to stretch his legs, Rouge is sleeping off a hangover, and Sonic's somewhere outside."  
I nodded and went outside, jumping to the roof to make it easier to find him. Fortunately for me, he was right there, leaning against the railing of what I call the "Crow's Nest". He was apparently in a thoughtful mood and didn't even flick an ear at my footsteps.  
"Uh... Good morning, Sonic." No response. "... Sonikku...?" I addressed him in his Japanese name, putting a hand on his shoulder. He jumped slightly; he must really have been thinking, for once.  
"Hu-wha-- oh, hey Tails," he said in a quiet voice. His eyes were half-lidded as he turned around, and they looked a bit bloodshot. He didn't sleep last night...? I realized my eyes still had a bit of sleep in them and rubbed them to wake myself up more. "So, how ya doin'?"  
"Well, I heard your fan this morning. But Amy 'fixed' it for you," I said sarcastically.  
"Ahh... Well, I'm not really inside very much during the day, and the nights have been cool. So don't trouble yourself."  
I flicked my ears in confusion. "What's wrong, Sonic? You're not acting like yourself. At least, not since..." My voice trailed off; we both knew what I was talking about.  
"Nah, I'm just fine... But how are you feelin', kid?" I was beginning to get suspicious. That was two people in less than a half hour asking how I was feeling.  
"Well, I've got a headache right now, but the medicine's about to kick in... Is there something I should be worried about? Did something happen?"  
"Huh. You don't remember anything from last night?" So, I was right...  
"Not after a point, no... I mean, my memory's not spotless, anyway. But I don't know how I ended up in your bed, if that's what you wanna know."  
Sonic studied me for a moment. "Well, then, what's the last thing you remember?"  
"Uh, the last event I remember clearly is talking to Amy. But the last thing I remember at all is having a little wine to celebrate. Just a little. And Knuckles diluted it, too. I could hardly taste the alcohol." Sonic's face became shadowed and blank. There was an awkward silence.  
"Well, to put it simply, you ended up having a little more than a little wine. From what I heard, Rouge was the one who insisted. I don't really blame her; you probably know the state she's in right now." I nodded sadly. So I got my headache from that.  
"So what happened after that?"  
"Well, the four of you came up to Angel Island. I got mad at Knucklehead for leaving you alone with Rouge, and you got dizzy and passed out." Another awkward silence passed. I decided to change the subject.  
"So, you didn't sleep last night?"  
"I had a lot on my mind, that's all." Shadow, I thought.  
"Sonic? What happened when both of you went Super?" I asked, flopping down on the roof. Sonic followed suit.  
"I figured you were gonna ask that. Well, our minds sorta worked as one, but that's not all. While we were connected, our minds combined." I was wondering why Sonic was talking a little differently...  
"What d'ya mean, 'combined'?"  
"Well, it wasn't only our thoughts that were the same. Our memories... I remember what Shadow remembers," he explained.  
"So that answers that, I guess." My stomach growled. "Heheh, I think I oughta go get some late breakfast. Thanks for explaining that to me. Gives me something more for my research," I said, standing and hopping off the roof.

Down in the basement, in addition to the guest rooms, is our kitchen. It's connected to a little lounge area, which is why we use this area for parties and the like. The kitchen part consists of a larger table, a sink, a fridge, and the one and only automatic cooker. It's not quite ready for a market release quite yet, but two years from now looks promising! I dropped in a sheet of bacon strips and two eggs, which I set on the "scrambled" setting. While I waited on the food, I poured myself a modest glass of orange juice. The cooker took only a few seconds more before dropping the meal on a plate, perfectly cooked. Setting my meal down at the table, I sniffed in the delicious scent and started to eat.  
Rouge chose this moment to finally rouse herself. I flicked my eyes in her direction; she looked like she'd been hit by a bus... That had backed over her afterwards. I couldn't help but break a ghost of a smile through my food. "Rufv nighzch?" I asked over a piece of bacon. That translates roughly to "Rough night?", by the way.  
"Where's the Advil?" she groaned. I ran up the stairs to my workshop and dropped them in her hand. She ran some tap water into a cup and swallowed. "Would it be too much to ask you if I could have some pancakes?" she asked in a nicer tone; she must've thought that she'd been too mean to me a minute ago.  
"Sure, no problem. Two pancakes, coming right up! Want some coffee?" She nodded vigorously.  
Knuckles came in while I was washing the dishes at the sink. I swished one of my tails in a wave, a sign that all of my friends know well. I'm usually very busy with a bunch of projects that I have going, so I don't always-- make that almost never-- have time to turn around. "Hey Knux, what's up?"  
"Not much. I was thinkin' that maybe we could show Rouge the jungle today? That is, if you're both up to it. You're certainly peppy enough, aren't ya?"  
"Sounds like a great idea, Knuckles! I think Sonic could use a change of pace, too. Rouge should be feeling well enough to go now-- she's in her room changing as we speak," I said, pointing a tail in the direction of the girls' room. We keep them separate for, well, obvious reasons. "Speak of the devil."  
"Now, that wasn't a very warm welcome," she said in her normal voice. There was a tired note in her voice, but hey, she was alive. Knuckles turned to her.  
"I was thinking that maybe the five of us could go take a walk in the Mystic Jungle. You up to it?"  
Rouge nodded happily. "Sounds grr-eat! Well, why don't we find the others and get a move on?" I finished drying the last dish, dropping it in the rack with the others, and bounced quickly out the door.

  
  


We weren't super-enthusiastic about bringing Amy with us, but the pink energetic fangirl just wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. She lead our way into the tunnel that each of us alone would've gone through on a mine cart with a small flashlight. Oh yeah, that really helps most of us see. After a minute or two of walking, we could see sunlight through the other side.

Knuckles put a hand over Rouge's eyes in the dim light and continued to guide her until the very edge of the platform looking out over the lush green jungle. Then he took his hand away.  
"It's... It's fantastic!" she gasped. Knuckles smiled. He had known what she'd say by a long shot.  
"Well, let's go in, everybody!" squealed Amy as she quickly climbed down the ladder. Climbing and jumping. Those are about the only things she does well, though no one wants to pick a fight with that hammer. Sonic just dropped down, while the rest of us floated to the jungle floor. We walked through the jungle silently until we heard a tell-tale voice.  
"Oh! Hey, guys! Howzit going?" said a fat cat as it walked out of the bushes. Rouge took a step back, Knuckles sighed, Sonic rolled his eyes, and I just smirked in what I hoped was a friendly way.  
Amy, though, bounded up to him in her usual perky fashion. "Hey, Big! Haven't seen you in a while, have we, guys?"  
"Oh, hello everybody! Frowggey, say hoi!" As if on cue, Froggy gave a little 'ribbit'. "Say, who's the pretty lady? I haven't seen her before. Knuckles, is she your..." I cut him off for the echidna's sake.  
"This is our friend Rouge. She tried to steal the Master Emerald, but Knux put it back together. She helped us save the world yesterday."  
"Oh, I see! Well, any friend of Sonic's is a friend of mine." Big said, bowing politely.  
Knuckles decided to pipe up now. "I was actually kinda hoping we'd run into you, Big. Rouge hasn't seen the jungle at all until now, and I was thinking that you might be able to give her a little tour. Whaddya say?"  
"We'd be glad to, right Froggy?" The frog on the feline's head croaked loudly, as if it were saying yes. "Well, let's go, then!"

We wandered through the jungle for about an hour before taking a break. I had seen this enclosure before. It was a small hideaway near the ancient ruins. Circular and covered on every square inch with moss, the chamber was lit just enough to be easy on the eyes by the sunlight filtering in through the vines above. Rouge happily laid back on the thick moss in the center of the area. I looked over to Knuckles, sitting just about a foot from her. What I saw surprised me. The guardian's eyes were soft and fixated on the bat's closed eyes. He wore upon his mug a relaxed, contented, kindly smile. He reminded me of Santa Claus, in a way, but this red-clad jolly fellow was alive and well. It was really sweet; I wish she could have seen him.  
The slow upward curve of my mouth was interrupted by a loud crash from the area outside that we had forgotten. It was followed by a short hum. Then, suddenly, we heard a laugh that most of the planet knows by now. Sonic spoke our thoughts. "What in the heck is that crazy doc doin' now!?" He has a tendency to watch his language around Amy and me.

The six of us rushed outside, following our ears. I lead the way with my direction-sensitive hearing. That's one of the perks of being a fox-- you can hear anything for a long distance. Heck, I bet that I could have heard a bug chewing on the grass halfway across the forest. Anyway, our assumptions were made into fact as we rounded the corner. "Eggman. I shoulda known," Sonic said, getting into a frustrated pose.  
"First, may I ask that you please call me Doctor Robotnik, or Robotnik, or perhaps even Ivo? 'Eggman' is terribly insulting to someone who has no control over their size, you know," the Doctor said in a surprisingly cordial voice.  
"Okay, Eggman," Sonic said sarcastically. "What are you doing out here in your ship? Disturbing the poor, defenseless small animals?"  
"You underestimate my character, Sonic. I was merely experimenting with a new beam of mine. It could make life far more interesting for many people."  
"Being blasted, blown up, killed, or becoming injured is interesting?"  
"Oh, this doesn't injure anyone... Nor does it do any of the other things you mentioned. It only hurts, and I've purposely made it so that you pass out if you're hit full-on. I'm trying to iron out the bugs, but until now, I had no subjects to test it on."  
"Are you asking that we test this 'invention' of yours out for you? Because if you are, the answer is no!"  
"Ah, but Sonic! I wasn't asking... I was assuming you'd automatically say yes!" With that last syllable, he pointed the lock-on at Big and fired. Fortunately, Froggy had hopped off in the opposite direction, so the cat only got half of the impact from the weapon...  
Sonic hopped over to the dazed mass of fur, trying to help him up. "Hey, are you okay?"  
An oddly higher-pitched voice answered his query. "Yes, I'm just fi... What's with my voice?"  
"What the--!? Big, you're a girl!" As Sonic pulled the furry lummox out of the bushes, I saw what Sonic meant. Big had a girl's features! In addition, she seemed to have lost much of her weight in the transformation. An odd thing about this was the fact that she was already wearing clothes. She had a form-fitting lighter purple dress on, with smaller shoes and gloves that matched her old ones.  
"W-what in the... I'm all light now! And I'm wearing a pretty dress!" Knuckles' jaw would have gone straight through an inch or two of soil if it were possible when he saw her. She was half the cat she had been a few moments ago and actually looked nice, if I do say so myself.  
The echidna didn't have much more time to stare, though, as he was hit by the full force of a blast and passed out. I heard Eggman aiming for Amy, who I soon saw block only half a blast with her hammer. I watched the mad scientist fire at Rouge, who had previously been concerned with the red form lying unconscious on the ground. She joined him in slumber.  
I snapped around to watch Sonic hopping around Robotnik's ship. I started dashing for the blur when I saw the laser begin its charge. "LOOK OUT!" I yelled as I rammed my hero from the side. I was thrown off the ground by a zap that hit my feet.  
Once I hit the ground, I felt the change almost immediately. My chest fur was enough to cover my upper half, so I only wore a pair of light cream shorts. Sonic helped me off the ground and barked me my instructions. "Tails, get the others out of here! I'll take care of this punk!"  
I looked at him concernedly. "Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?"  
"Just GO!" he shouted, starting to dash around Eggman more cautiously. I ran over to my friends and helped Amy carry Rouge. As we hopped into the mine cart, I took one last look in the direction of the fight taking place near Dr. Eggman's Mystic Ruins base. I thought I saw a flash of the laser, but I knew it had missed because several more flashes followed as the cart began to roll.

We dropped Rouge and Knuckles into the beds in the opposite rooms as they had been staying in. We also had to move the bat's belongings with him. Knuckles hadn't brought anything; he usually just takes what he can find where he is.  
"You know, I thought that was gonna be harder than it was. I don't really know why, but I think I feel faster for some reason," Amy said in his relatively deep voice. I had been expecting him to still have a high-pitched voice, like I did. He was wearing tan cargo shorts, black shoes, and black fingerless gloves. The girl part of my mind was attracted to him, which was odd because I couldn't stand Amy before. Maybe it was the voice?  
"Well, maybe it's 'cause you're not wearing those clumsy boots of yours now," I said, ducking his swat at my head. My voice had hardly changed, which was frustrating to me. Basically, my voice didn't drop to that lower note as it normally did when I was talking. "Seriously, though, I feel a little taller. And look at Big! He... she... hardly weighs ANYTHING compared to before!"  
"Hm. I guess that the switch can affect us in lots of different ways, not only the gender swap," he said quietly. His voice had seemed to trail off and, turning my head, I saw that he was watching my tails as they naturally flicked up and down.  
"Like how?" I asked him. I didn't get an answer. "Hello?" I questioned, turning to face him with my arms crossed.  
Amy blinked a few times. "Er, what? Sorry."  
I uncrossed my arms. "I SAID, what else do you think changes?"  
His eyes moved nervously up and down. "Um... Well... I dunno... Uh..." I cocked my head. What was with him? He seemed like he wasn't able to look me in the face... Oh, wait a minute...  
"... Tell me, honestly," I said, stepping closer to him. He fidgeted nervously as his eyes flitted around. "Do you think I need a shirt?" I bent forward with my arms behind my back for emphasis.  
Amy was sweating a little. I think that if this had been one of those "animé" shows, he would've sweatdropped. "Uhhh, yeeeaaaahh. That would be a good idea," he said, looking away. He was blushing slightly.  
I sighed. "So you were chest-talking me. Well, I can't really blame you. I'd probably be doing the same to me if I were still a guy. You have a shirt I could borrow?"  
"Yeah, umm, lemme get my suitcase," he said, walking into the girls' room. I shook my head. Now I know why girls don't like guys who do that sort of thing. Though I guess I should be flattered.  
When he came out of the room, he handed me the suitcase. "Here, it's all yours for now. You can wear anything you want. But please make sure you wash them?" I nodded and started looking through the case.  
"Wow, girls need a lot more stuff than guys... Hm? What's this?" I queried, holding up a little pink thing. He laughed.  
"Ohhh, that. Well, I'm not sure if you need it, but if it takes any more than a few weeks to straighten this out..." My ears drooped as I threw the pad on the floor in disgust. My tongue was sticking out.  
"Ew!?" I said, more as a statement than a question. "Great, just great. Just one question. Why do girls get all... Uh..." The first word that came to mind was 'bitchy', but Sonic told me not to say that. "... Angry at that time of month?"  
"Well, I guess it's 'cause we get really tired. Wait, this means I don't have to go through that! Yes! Ya know, bein' a guy isn't going to be half-bad!"  
"Then again... It's Spring Hormones time..." I smirked, sitting down next to him.  
"'Spring Hormones'? The heck is that?"  
"Weeee-eelllll..." I drawled, slipping the tip of my right tail up his leg. He shivered from the sensation, and I giggled.  
"Uh," he coughed slightly. "What was th... that?"  
"Nothin' much, just a natural way of your body telling you that you like the feel of something. Heeheehee!" Amy was blushing by now.  
"Uh-um, that was really... Weird... Errrr..." he slowly said. I just laughed harder.  
"Don't worry! I know almost exactly what you're going through! I was a guy, after all."  
"... Well, it's still better than having my period." I frowned.  
"Well, in any case, how's this look on me?" I said, pulling on a short white 'Baby Doll' style shirt. Since Amy and I had different body types, it barely touched my waist. It had on it in black type two Japanese characters, with a translation (real or fake, I didn't know); "Stop Staring."  
"Nice choice, Tails! It looks really... Uh... Cute!" he said, giving me a thumbs up.  
"Okay, so I guess this is what I'll wear." I yawned. "Well, I think I'm gonna go take a nap," I said, heading for the stairs.  
"You're not really going to sleep on your cot, are you? The beds down here are reeeeally comfy!"  
I smirked playfully. "Are you trying to get me to sleep with you?" He groaned. "Haha, I was just kidding! You're probably right." My feet automatically turned toward the boys' room, but I remembered my situation and turned toward the other.  
I found a comfortable bed on the opposite side of the room from Knuckles. I put my things away in the dresser and laid down. As my eyelids fell, my last thought before sleep claimed me was, I hope Sonic's okay.

* * *

  
Just so you all know, I don't really know about that whole "Spring Hormones" thing. Just came into my head while I was typing. Isn't it strange the way my mind works differently when I'm writing?


	3. Just Your Everyday Battle

My mind has finally gotten a chance to blank out. When I'm fighting or on a mission, it's always occupied with predicting the next move that's going to be thrown at me. If I get going fast enough, the world around me slows down. Makes any fight almost too easy.

You know, I never thought I'd say this, but for once, I was actually glad Doctor Tub-o'-lard had shown up. As long as I'm occupied, I'm not going to end up depressed. So Eggman's a welcome distraction when things get boring around here and I have nothing to do. It keeps me, once again, from thinking too hard. If I'm dodging around, I don't have to think about why I do things. It's so... Well, the best word I can come up with is "simple," I guess.

My legs are carrying me around the robot just fast enough to avoid damage. I bounce easily around his attacks. Jump, land, jump, land, pause, slam feet into ground to fly up, hit the machine in today's obvious weak spot, bounce away, land. It's the same routine from the last gajillion times I've fought him, but it's usually a little harder each time to hit the weak point for damage. It really just never gets old to me.

Eggman actually manages to startle me by breaking his constant rhythm enough to clip my back. He curses slightly as it misses the spot he aimed at to injure me by about a centimeter. I cockily stick my tongue out and make a ridiculous face at him. Of course, he tries to hit again, so I hop over his attack and slam his machine another time.

Tiny arcs of electricity are spitting out from under the cockpit now. I hear the electronic beep of a warning light turning on inside the still-normal cockpit. Over so soon? I backflip out of the way of the next shot and dash sideways to avoid the follow-up. After a few more shots, he decided to try the rhythm-breaking tactic again.

The blast misses me by a fortunate few inches, but I hear it slash into the forest behind me. Since I'm concerned that it could've caused actual damage, I Homing Attack directly into the cockpit, rendering the remainder of his robot into scrap metal. I run backwards and watch Robotnik flee moments before the inevitable explosion of the useless machine. I turned my head now to the forest. The sound of a cracking tree filled my ears as I raced toward the trajectory I had guessed for the projectile. The falling tree juts into my vision.

"Ah crap, there's someone under it!" I exclaimed. A dark form lay face up beneath where the tree was going to hit the hardest, if I knew my physics. Which I should, considering my fighting prowess. I curled myself into Spin Dash form and launched myself toward "it" with all my might. I popped out of my ball form to "its" immediate left and snatched "it." With impressive strength, I slammed my feet into the ground, throwing us a few feet forward and out of the tree's path. A short moment afterward, wood was all around the area and leaves were dancing just above the stump.

It took me a moment to shake off my adrenaline rush. I wasn't bad off, but I had kinda shaken myself. My vision was a little out of focus, so trying to survey anything made me woozy. Once I returned to my senses and normal pulse, I took the time to figure out who-- and what-- I'd grabbed. I could feel immediately that they were a hedgehog. Upon further inspection once my vision cleared, I found them to be female. She was covered mostly in jet-black fur and quills, with a singed-looking brown muzzle. The only things she wore were a pair of beaten-up shoes of an unrecognizable brand and light gray mismatched gloves. Her entire body seemed to be burnt, battered, and bruised. It then occurred to me that she might be dead already.

I set her down and placed an ear to her mouth. She was still barely breathing, and I could feel her weak pulse. I guess I must've saved this pretty little lady's life, I thought. She can thank me for that later. As I hefted her into my arms and ran for the ladder into the rest of Mystic Ruins, I wondered how she could've gotten hurt so brutally.

* * *

I cautiously thumped the door open with my shoulder. I didn't want to injure the burden I had worked so hard to save.

"Sonic! I'm glad you're back, but what're you holding?" a pink hedgehog I didn't recognize asked me. I nearly did a double-take; I had forgotten what had happened to my friends.

"She's hurt, real bad," was all I could think of to say at the time.

"Oh... Here, let me get the door for you," Amy said, throwing open the basement door. He ran ahead to open the now makeshift hospital door.

As I set the girl down on a bed, I saw Tails rubbing an eye in the far left bed. "Wha's goin' on?" she yawned. I turned to her.

"Eggman snapped a tree at the end of our fight, and I found her about to get thwacked with it as it fell," I summarized.

"Oh!" Tails seemed suddenly awake. "Let me take a look at her. You should go rest for now. Don't worry about her; she's in good hands!" She said the last two words proudly, thumping a fist to her heart. I couldn't help but smile at the sweetness of it.

"Awright. I'll trust ya, lil' bro... Er, I guess it's 'sis' now, huh?" I said, getting a better look at her for the first time. She did look kinda cute in the clothes she was wearing.

"Aw, c'mon, Sonic! Don't think about it! Just keep calling me what you have for the last... ever!" she said, frowning slightly before smiling. I gave her a thumbs-up as I left the room.

"Will do, Tails."

  
  


I headed slowly up the stairs to my room. I didn't really trust myself to sleep at this point, so I booted up my new computer to mess with it. I'm not so good with electronics, but I think Tails doesn't mind having to fix them. I figured that it would be a while before I could get my downloads back, so I contented myself with running the OS setup. It's another custom thing made by the inventor of the house. Sometimes I think she's almost TOO smart...

I didn't want to sleep because I had terrible nightmares the previous night. They were so vivid that I still remembered them at that point. They all centered around one theme: pain. In eight hours of sleep, I experienced countless horrors. I would feel severe, burning pain for a while, and then the scene would switch to another form of it. I was severely abused hundreds of times, and I no doubt died thousands of deaths along with them. I shuddered convulsively in the computer chair as I remembered the blood, the gore, and the feeling of having my very soul torn from my body. My only possible guess of the reasons for the torture was my guilt about Shadow. I wonder if all of those things happened to Shadow? I thought. Maybe that was why I had been forced to endure so much in my sleep. I shook the thoughts off and began to adjust the sound settings.

I stood and grabbed my headphones out of my CD player, carefully shoving the plug into my fancy high-quality speakers. I dropped in one of my favorite discs to test the volume. The first song was about believing in what you thought was right, even if it didn't seem to be. It's like my "theme," in a way, because it describes how I feel all the time. I sighed and relaxed myself into my chair as I carefully moved the slider upward until it sounded perfect to my ears.

The thing I like best about music is the fact that you can just sorta drop into it. Everything and anything you are thinking about can just leave your head, if you let it. You become the music. This numbness fills your body if you've tuned the sound just right, and you go into a trance you can break whenever you want. It has all of the benefits of drugs, and none of the side-effects.

I close my eyes for a bit, when I suddenly wake up. The music stopped, I notice. That's why I'm awake, right? But I'm still a bit tired. I look over at the clock by the front of my bed. My vision's all blurry, so I rub my eyes to clear it. The clock says... Whoa, six o' clock? I must have really fallen asleep.

A faint scent reaches my nostrils. It smells like... Plastic? Oh, the computer's been on for about ten hours. No wonder. I punched the power button and finally succumbed to my body's nagging about sleep, despite the likelihood (That word's a bit out of character for me, isn't it? Must be Shadow again...) of nightmares.


	4. Compromised Awareness

Hoo boy, it's been a while, hasn't it? Well, Flip Side is back, just barely. I got quite a few ideas for this that I doubt anyone will expect. And I bet they won't get why I'm writing them, either. ... You might want to start from Chapter One- it's been so long.

* * *

I must have made it. I must finally be dead. After all I went through, I definitely have to be dead. Where I'm lying is so comfortable... Heaven? Wait, then why does my back hurt like hell? 

Come to think of it, what happened to me? Where did I come from? What did I last do?

... Who am I?

Amnesia. You can never truly guess what it is like to remember nothing that has ever happened to you. The only thing you can do is use your senses to tell what has happened, is happening. Well, we might as well try this one step at a time.

Touch. My body appears to be injured. There is no way I can tell how badly, so let's try moving. I move my ankle; a twinge of pain shoots up my leg. A flick of either wrist brings a bit of hurt. I think I'll stop that, now. What I'm lying on is soft. A bed would be my guess.

Smell. There isn't really any scent in this area. I can feel a small breeze, which wafts in natural smells. Grass, barely-scented flowers, water, that sort of thing. Taste? My mouth doesn't taste like anything. So, I've been out for a while, huh?

Sound. Tiny chirps of birds, whose sounds tell my mind that I must be in a room and hearing them through the window. Sharp senses are a veritable miracle; they tell you more than most people could ever find out. I can hear metallic clinks and scraping through one of the walls of my room. From what my mind can recall in the way of sounds, someone is eating breakfast.

Ah yes, sight. My eyes have been closed this whole time. The guesses that I've made are confirmed by my first glimpse of where I am. I see the door first, as it's right in front of the end of my bed. Turning my head slightly reveals a single half-open window to my left. It looks out directly over water. The birds are seagulls... The ocean?

I shift my position to the point where I'm partially sitting, with the various injured parts of myself whining another complaint of pain. Makes you wonder why my neck doesn't hurt, but I suppose that's why I'm not dead. To my right are two empty beds, one with the covers moved down and rumpled. To my left is another bed, with some echidna girl asleep in it. She's drooling... So unladylike.

I wonder suddenly how I look, anyway, and push the covers down a bit to study this. Jet black fur meets my eyes, as well as two round lumps-- so I'm female. I see a ridiculous amount of burn scars on myself. The question of what happened comes to mind, and all that meets me in response are snippets of conversation intermixed with general static. Trying to remember is giving me a horrible headache, for that reason, so I give up.

I feel a rumble in my stomach, and that registers in my mind as hunger. I don't feel like I've ever been hungry... But, then again, I don't remember ever eating. A quiet noise from outside the door reminds me of where to get food. I stretch my arms and legs, feeling a bit less pain and more limber now, and open the door.

There is another hedgehog at the table as I walk toward the smell of food. He looks male, but his quills are pink. That must be a bit insulting to him, I think. He's wearing a pair of shorts that I somehow wouldn't call "brand-new," but look like they've definitely never been worn.

I must have opened the door silently enough, because he visibly jumped when I said, "Um." After he turned to face me, he swallowed his food-- which I noticed was cereal-- immediately.

"Eh, oh, you--'re-- awake. Sorry if I seem kinda flustered; you just really startled me," he said jerkily. After a pause, he added, "Would you like me to find you something to wear? I'm sure I-- we've-- got something around here."

"Uh... Sure." I nodded. He ran up the stairs (which I now noticed), ignoring the rest of his breakfast for the moment. He came back quickly, holding a red dress in his hands.

"Here, try this on. I..." His face flushed, "... Put your underwear and stuff inside it, too."

I got the feeling that I was supposed to walk away or risk making him more uncomfortable, so I walked back to my earlier room. The echidna girl had rolled over, but I could see that she was still drooling a bit. I stuck my tongue out a bit, though it felt odd to me to do that. I put the clothes on and decided to look at myself in the mirror on the wall. I look nice, I thought, but maybe there's a bit too much red. Ah well.

When I returned to the kitchen, the hedgehog was reading the day's newspaper. I walked behind him, and read over his shoulder. He appeared to be closely reading an article discussing something about a G.U.N. Corporation looking for a captive specimen they had recently lost. In the article, the company stated that, while they had lost all pictures of it, this specimen was evidently a black hedgehog that looked much like one 'Sonic the Hedgehog.' Reading further, this hedgehog was part of one 'Project SHADOW,' and created by a 'mad scientist' by the name of Gerald Robotnik. Suddenly, my mind reeled some, and memories flitted before my eyes too quickly for me to grasp, and disappeared just as suddenly. "Huh!?" I said, causing the hedgehog to jump again, this time nearly hitting my jaw.

"Aah! ... Oh, you again. Cut that out!" he said mockingly. After another pause, he noted that the dress looked pretty on me.

"Thank you," I said, testing the waters. He nodded.

"Ssso, uh... My name's A..." He trailed off. "... Air." Odd, I thought, he changed the vowel sound. "Nice to meet you. What's yours?" he asked politely. Of course, I just had to be confused.

"What?" He looked at me oddly.

"I said, what's your name?"

"Uh...," I stalled.

Another wave of memories hit me. I had no visual memory, but I heard in my head a deep voice saying, "Maria? MARIA! Stop it, what do you think you're doing to her, it's not her fault, she..." It rambled on. And then, "No! MARIAAAA...!" I suddenly came back to myself, and saw Air waiting patiently for an answer.

"... Well, I don't remember much, but... I'm Maria. Nice to meet you, too. Now then, I'm really hungry. Could you get me some breakfast? Maybe some of that cereal you're having?"

He looked positively stricken for a moment, then said, quietly, "Ss...sure."


End file.
